STAND FIRM: The Future of US - Church Members
Over the past two articles, we’ve looked at the likely future of our nation and our churches according to Bible prophecy. Regardless of the proximity of our nearness to the end of the age, these things and their consequences on us are important for us to consider. We only have to look back over the past four years at how COVID and the government’s response to it impacted our churches. If we are in the latter days, then it won’t be the last time we experience something like that. The Bible warns us to be watching and be alert. Scripture also tells us what to look for.
So far, we’ve looked at how the treatment or lack of treatment of the United States at the end of the age points to us at least diminishing on the world stage so a Middle Eastern power could rise. This shifting of power in the world appears to begin before the final seven years so it is likely something we will face in America regardless of the timing of the Rapture. Next, we looked at how, in the last days, the church will face persecution and struggles from within. From Matthew 25, this persecution is in the “beginning of birth pains,” which would be at least before the final three and half years.
That warning of persecution and the strife within churches it will cause isn’t the only biblical description of the church at the end of the age. Here are three more:
• A Rise in False Teachers — “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (I Tim. 4:1-2 NIV).
Nearly all the epistles in the New Testament warn of false teaching, but the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy that it will get significantly worse at the end of the age. This warning impacts the church in at least two ways. These false teachers will rise up from outside the church and from within. That means there will be some church members who will begin to teach falsely. It also means that church members will follow the false teachings of these internal and external false teachers. The passage also points out that these teachers have seared consciences or have become hardened from sin.
• People Will Fall Away — “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people” (II Tim. 3:1-5).
After reading this passage, you might feel convinced that we’re at the end of the age! Seriously, this is a warning we must know. It seems that it is talking about “church members” or “people who claim to be Christians.” I lean this way because Paul wrote they’re “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” Then, in the following passages, he ties this into false teaching. That is a description of church members at the end of the age. It isn’t for every church member because, as I shared in the previous article, there will be believers who shine in that generation. There will be those who hold on to their testimony and the Word of God. There will be those who fulfill the Great Commission.
• People Will Seek Teachings to Suit Their Desires — “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (II Tim. 4: 3-4).
Again, when he wrote to Timothy, Paul warned of church members following false teachings, but he added to the perspective by saying they’ll gravitate to teachings that suit their own desires.
These three things are often overlooked regarding prophecy, but we hear these verses quoted. I often hear these things used to explain what has happened to someone, but what if we considered them now? What if we looked at how God described His churches and heeded His warnings? What if we prepared?
Prophetic warnings in Scripture are there to be heeded. Yes, since they’re prophecies, they will happen, but there can be fewer faith casualties if we consider the warnings and prepare.
— Jake is a state missionary and would love to share about the work in Northwest Arkansas and encourage your church to stand firm. (standfirmministries.com)
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Jake McCandless
Jake McCandless authors a weekly column titled, Stand Firm and Live Epic, through which he seeks to encourage the modern church to not just survive, but thrive in current times. He also addresses many end-times topics.
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